Avatar:Path of the Siblings
by BoogieBoy
Summary: Zuko is going on a quest to find his mother, however he decides to take Azula along with him hoping to help her recover on their journey.
1. Chapter 1

"People eat this." Zuko nodded "They put it in their mouth, chew and then swallow?"

"It's not that bad." he replayed.

"Zuzu, this is disgusting."

"Then don't eat it."

The conversation was going on in a restaurant, located in one of the ex-colonies of the Fire Nation, now under Earth Kingdom control. A nice place, made of wood, had several tables most of which were occupied. There was one waitress, who was casually going around the tables, serving food and taking orders.

"This meal is lucky I'm hungry."

"You know, people enjoy this; it's considered a staple in the local cosine."

"You're telling me, that you are going to tell the cooks, to make this?"

"Well, no..."

Suddenly Azula stopped paying attention, Zuko noticed as well. A bronze skinned man, with a gouty and a somewhat bizarre haircut entered. He was dressed somewhat simply, except his collar, which had a few golden stripes on it. He seemed oblivious to their presence, more interested in having a meal than anything else. His actions spoke of ignorance as well: careless, unaware, completely closed in his own mind. Exactly how they wanted him...

"That's our man." Zuko remarked "Let's have a chat with him."

"Not before I finish my meal."

There was no rush; the man just ordered something, so he'll probably be there for long enough. The Fire Lord knew it, no need to argue with his sister right now. Well, if they were going to wait, they could at least be productive about it.

"So, how do we approach him?" Zuko was thinking about the method, in his mind this had to go perfectly, the needed the information he had, no place for screw ups "We shouldn't alarm him from the get go. We must also be certain that he doesn't lie; if I knew we would be doing this I would have brought Toph along, but I didn't, so this is that. You can tell, right?"

Azula just finished with her meal "Zuko, relax, just act natural." she got up and headed towards the target's direction.

"Yeah, act natural." suddenly it clicked with him "Wait, I don't want you to act - "

Before he could say it Azula grabbed the man by the collar and threw him at the table. The victim, due to the shock, couldn't say anything before he was flat on his back. The princess screamed at him, fire coming out of her mouth, "Where is Ursa!"

The poor man wet himself before she could finish the sentence.

- 2 months prior -

There was nothing but rage inside her. If she could blast anything, she did; if she could scream at someone, she did; if she could punch something, she did. At first she tried to melt her cage, when this didn't work she started pounding the bars until her fists turned bloody. The first time she was going at it until she lost consciousness due to blood lost.

This continued for two weeks. After that she calmed down; in fact, she rarely did anything, except requesting a book from time to time. The guards talked to her, but other than a book request, she didn't say anything. Not to them at least, sometimes she talked to herself, as if there was someone with her. This wasn't unexpected. The guards were prepared, if she wasn't insane, she wouldn't be here. There were exceptions of course, some Fire Lords did throw political enemies in asylums, Ozai did it, and so did Azulon. But this wasn't the case. She was really unstable.

Five weeks after his coronation, Fire Lord Zuko came to visit. Some of the guards were taken aback; in fact this earned him respect. Here she was, Princess Azula, by all means his nemesis, but he did come to see his little sister. The doctors and guards respected him for that; many people were doing less for the love ones they never had issues with, especially if noble blood was involved.

He spoke with a few of them. They assured him – the fact that she calmed down was not an indication that her condition has improved, just that her mood has swung in another direction. Was it safe to enter? No, but the Fire Lord was a powerful bender; he could defend against anything she threw at him. The staff did warn him, but he was willing to take the risk. This was his sister after all.

When he entered the room, she was reading. Her prison was well decorated: a bed with a good mattress, an iron desk and a chair, which she couldn't melt. It was a decent little room inside another room, surrounded by bars. Not the best accommodations, but this was probably the most luxurious prison in the Fire Nation.

"Hello Azula."

There wasn't a response.

"They told me you were stable."

Silence.

"How are you doing?"

"Typical" she answered "still reading. It's not a bad book."

"What's it about?"

"Some fairytale."

Zuko felt at easy. She was responsive, willing to communicate; she wasn't even angry or mad about him, the conversation felt completely casual.

"I'm glad you're alright."

She laughed it off; maybe things wouldn't go as smooth as he hoped.

"Please Zuzu, we both know it's a lie."

"It's true Azula, Ty Lee also wishes for you to get well, Mai as well." he paused for a moment "Although you know how Mai is..."

"You know, my hallucinations usually lie to me, but you're doing it more than any other. I'm a liar you know, I smell those things."

So this is what it was. Azula believed he wasn't real, she thought he was a fiction of her imagination.

"Azula, I'm real. I'm really glad you're recovering."

"Please..." she seemed to be enjoying this "Do you really think I'm going to believe this? Ty Lee and Mai betrayed me, my mother abandoned me, my brother throw me in a mad house, I wouldn't even comment on my uncle. Do you think there is anyone who'll be glad about anything about me? At all? I'm the abomination everyone was telling me, I was just in denial, even though I never admitted it to myself."

"Is that what you did? You replaced your anger with self-loathing and self-pity?"

"No, it just became clear to me. Ty Lee jumped to defend Mai, my mother went into exile to protect my brother. I consider this, although foolish, a sign of friendship and love." Azula's voice was getting louder "They supported each other – never me. Why? Because I am a monster, and monsters belong in cages – forgotten and contained."

"This is not true; you have friends and family..."

"WHAT DOES AN APPARATION KNOWS ABOUT IT!"

Suddenly she started laughing hysterically.

"Look at me, getting angry at phantoms, I really have become pathetic."

"I am real Azula, as is my concern for you."

His sister was always strong headed, but this was childish and annoying, even for him.

"Alright apparition, prove me you're real." She went to the cage and extended her finger.

As soon as Zuko pulled it the situation changed. Azula, who was by now sure of herself and laughing at the situation jumped back, scared. Her eyes widened; the realization that she wasn't alone in the room started to sink in. It took a few moments before she made any movement.

"Why are you here, what do you want from me!" her voice was trembling, she was shaking. "What more could you want from me? Why don't you leave me alone!"

"I just want to make sure you're alright."

"I'm a monster; I am never going to be alright!"

"Don't talk like that about yourself."

After that he lost her. She went back to her desk and ignored him.

* * *

><p>Zuko was persistent. He came every day since then, when not occupied with adviser or government actions, or his new family, he went to see his sister. They usually had a good conversation, until Azula realized he was real and started to ignore him.<p>

"She is stable yes..." the doctor didn't seem to fully approve of the Fire Lords idea "but I wouldn't say harmless. I know that our staff hasn't been hurt, or that you yourself were never put in danger, but that may be due to her subdued nature. She is still insane and her actions are, by their nature, unexplainable. She may have not have done any damage, because she realize that she can't. There is also the fact that inside her cell things are calm, we can't be sure how her mind would take on the turbulent outside."

"I trust your expertise, " Zuko began, maybe this wasn't the best decision, but from his travels with the Avatar he learned to trust the good in people, even his sister " but you yourself know her condition, there hasn't been a change since she calmed down. She either read or talks to herself."

"Things like this take time Fire Lord." the doctor was thinking "But you might be right, she hasn't been dangerous to anyone." the doctor looked at the Fire Lord, he admired him for sticking up for his sister "I will give you permission, but I want assurance that I will not lose my patient!"

Azula was oblivious to all of it; she was reading quietly when he entered. Zuko observed her for a while, how much she changed. Before she faced destiny heads on, bending everyone to her will; now the only thing that didn't frighten her were the shadows of her own mind. Although, there were reports that even those hallucinations spooked her, from time to time.

"Azula..."

He didn't expect a response, but he did receive one.

"You are the real Zuko, aren't you?"

Inside, he felt his heart fill with joy; he was no longer an apparition.

"Yes"

She was quite for a moment.

"Since you started to come, Imaginary Zuko ceased his visits, he was more honest than you, you know."

Things were going well, they were having a conversation.

"Azula I might need your help."

His sister laughed and he could swear – this was the most sincere laugh he ever heard from her.

"So this is why you were coming these days, I knew you were up to something."

"I need your help to find mother."

The Princess stopped. Her face twisted in anger.

"That woman..."

"Azula..."

"She abandoned me, she left me, why would I want to see her! WHY!" Her voice echoed through the corridors "WHY SHOULD I HELP YOU FIND YOUR MOTHER! WHAT HAS SHE EVER DONE FOR ME!"

"I am sure she'll be willing to explain, mother isn't like father, and she loves her children – me and you." Zuko was thinking about what he was about to do, maybe she wasn't as well as he thought, but the die was already cast, there was no turning back. "I will also take you away from this cell, at least for a time."

Azula didn't answer, she was standing there, without moving, breathing heavily. Minutes passed before she moved and it looked to Zuko like she was trying to get a hold of herself, dispose of the anger the mentioning of her mother brought her.

"She was never my mother." It was obvious she was holding back her temper "And why would I want to go outside. People hate me, all of them ready to backstab me or to kill the abomination. Monsters like me belong in a cage. There is nothing outside!"

She was obviously not ready. Zuko gave a sigh; he really hoped that he could search for Ursa with her. He didn't need to, but he wanted to. After taking the throne, ending the war and marring Mai, he had one wish – to see his sister restored and maybe mend their relationship. Obviously this had to wait.

"Bye Azula, I'll see you when I get back."

"Wait..." Her face turned soft, her gaze was pinned at her own feet "I'll come...I'll...come with you."


	2. Chapter 2

"Promise me you won't try to escape."

"You won't believe me either way."

"True, I have arranged for guards, just in case, but I want to hear it from you."

"Escape and go where?" Azula looked at him as if he was an idiot; there was something from his old sister in her still "The Water Tribes? They know who I am. Earth Kingdom? Right now they hate Firebenders on principle. Hide in the Fire Nation? You'll just hunt me down. Live as a hermit? Better to stay in my cage."

There was truth to what she said. As much as he hated to admit, no one would accept his sister. For the world she was a war criminal; if they lay their hands on her, the asylum would look merciful. No one would conspire with her as well. After the excessive banishments she gave during her short reign she lost all political support. Not to mention her current insanity and mental instability. If conspirators were going to plot against him, they would use Ozai, not her. His father was stable, cunning and generous to his allies.

The next day they boarded the boat and sailed away. Iroh understood, Mai...didn't know. He was lucky his uncle decided to stay and help his nephew for a short time. He was also glad his uncle sympathized with him and took responsibility for the Fire Nation while he was gone. Most of all, he was glad to be away from the Throne room.

Zuko gave a sigh.

All he wanted was to restore his nation's pride and the world's balance, but he seemed to be alone in this. The ex-enemies wanted blood, they were hungry for vengeance. And could he blame them? They lost families, friends, and homes and now the perpetrators were going away without any punishment. He offered to help them rebuild, he offered to help those whose lives were ruined by the war. But they wanted more; they wanted things he couldn't give.

To top it off his missing mother and sick sister were in the way of his duties. Sometimes his mind would drift towards them and lose focus; sometimes they would haunt his dreams. It had to end, for the good of his nation; he had to have a conclusion.

Azula...wasn't doing anything strange. She seemed to enjoy her new found freedom, despite never saying it; you could rarely find her in her room. If she wasn't sleeping or eating, she was under the sky. It was hard to understand her. There was a plan in her head, that much was certain, she was Azula after all, but so far it hasn't resulted in anything malicious.

From Azula's standpoint it all looked pointless. She wasn't in a cage; she was in a ship, a nice ship, but still a prison. Not that she cared. The world rejected her; maybe she should have taken a hint when her mother left. It was clear why her mother left, unlike her brother she stayed and heard everything. But it couldn't have been only that, no one would trade a life of royalty for exile because of something so stupid. Maybe the boon of being away from someone so abnormal as herself was good enough.

Did she want to meet her mother? She did come on the journey, but it hadn't crossed her mind until they were at sea. What was better, confront her about the past or ignore her for all she did. Did she do something? Everyone abandoned her, why was her mother so special? Her father did it, her friends did it, and her brother did.

Her brother...why was she with him? Maybe he planned to kill her, maybe this was actually a transport to another, more secluded and secure prison? What does it matter? All she wanted was for this to end. If he killed her all the better, monsters had no business walking the earth. And then it occurred to her. Through all the rage and hallucinations she forgot about the simplest solution – suicide. Why not? She could set herself on fire, hang herself or simply poison herself. There should be poison on the ship. If the world didn't want her, why would she want to be with it anyway?

For the crew, things were a tense for the first day. The Fire Princess was a prodigy; they were instructed never to engage her alone, if needed to call for support and to subdue her by any means necessary. They were also to make sure that she doesn't do anything dangerous to the crew, the passengers, the ship or herself and to report any unusual or suspicious behavior from her. And they were a lot; having a double sized crew just to watch one person, and subdue if necessary, was making them uneasy.

Fortunately she didn't do any of that. The first few days she was roaming around doing nothing. Even Zuko didn't spoke to her. In his mind having her sort things out in clear air was a good idea. For a time.

"The weather is nice." Was the first thing he told her after boarding.

She didn't answer.

"Azula, do you think we can fix it?"

"What?" at least this time she responded.

"Our relationship – brother and sister."

"Why would you want to?"

"Because I'm your brother."

"Liar"

There was a silence, and then she proceeded.

"If I weren't your sister, would you want to be my friend? Would you talk to me? Would you care about me – at all?"

Zuko was silent; he didn't know whatever he lacked the answer or feared it.

After a short pause she said "I thought so as well." and left him.

The rest of the day Zuko felt bad about it. He should have said something against that, but was it true? He thought about it. If she wasn't his sister, would he care? He did consider every individual precious and every life worth it – even his father's, but would he try as hard for Azula if they weren't related? His mind slowly drafted away, to a time when neither of them knew much about the war or cared.

That night Azula was alone. Her hallucinations had ceased to disturb her since she left prison. The newfound notion of suicide entertained her, but most of all, the short conversation with her brother haunted her. He sounded sincere and Zuzu wasn't the one to lie. But...she was a monster. Isn't this why everyone abandoned her. Or was she wrong? Could she be? No, she was never wrong. She lost the duel versus the Water Tribe Girl, right? No, she shouldn't think about that, when she thought about those bad things happened. Why did bad things happen to her? Because she was a monster!

She heard a thunder and soon after raindrops fallowed.

She sat there, alone on her bed, hands on her head, fighting her own demons. This is how Zuko found her. He knocked several times, but there was no answer, so he opened the door and saw her. Obviously she was oblivious to his presence, even when he sat near her.

"Azula" he started "Do you remember when we were little? You used to have nightmares and when you did you came to me because you were afraid and alone. Then dad heard about it and put guards on our doors so you don't do that anymore. Or when you imagined that you controlled the thunders during a thunderstorm."

"What I'm saying is..." he continued "you aren't just the girl I fought during the war. You aren't just Azula who tries to get everything she wants. You are also the girl who called me Zuzu because she couldn't pronounced the "k" and who used to play with me when I was little. What I'm saying is..."

She turned quickly and hugged him. This was...unexpected, Azula always prided herself to be above that, but it was nice. In fact he wished for it.

"I don't want to be a monster." Azula was crying "I don't want to be alone. I don't want to have nightmares." She was sobbing uncontrollably "Please, lie to me. Tell me I'm more than a soldier of a bygone-war." her body was shacking "tell me you care. Tell me people care. Lie to me. Please Zuzu, lie to me."

At this moment Zuko realized – he wasn't the only one trying to help her. Azula herself was clawing her way back to sanity, to a normal life, to a life after the war. He smiled and embraced her back. His sister was always strong, always a fighter and even now she was fighting her condition. They sat like this, was it for a few minutes of for a few hours? No one cared...


	3. Chapter 3

"Yester night..." Azula began.

"...didn't happen." Zuko finished "I'm not telling anyone."

"Thank you." she smiled and turned the other way.

Since the night before his sister became more talkative, even chatting with some guards from time to time. The doctor he took, which she was blissfully unaware of, told him her actions can easily be classified as Borderline Personality Disorder, which, he insisted, was a major improvement. In fact, if nothing worsens her condition, she should be on her way to recovery. However, he also noted, her condition makes her prone to extreme mood swings, meaning that she may get angry and unstable, even without provocation.

This was good enough for him, having regular chats with her, as well as seeing her talk with people was enough progress to make him happy. What also made him happy was the fact that Azula was coming back to her good old self; he could even see her practicing her Firebending from time to time.

Other than that they were finally reaching their destination. The information Ozai provided turned useless, Ursa wasn't found anyway in the small colony he pinpointed and his agents weren't able to provide much information. However they did dig out something, one of the farmers there Koo, used to be a servant of hers, however he seemed to be oblivious when it came to his mother. He could have his agents fish the information, but he wanted to do it himself.

"Am I going on land with you?" He turned, Azula seemed to have popped up again.

"Yes."

"What's the plan?"

"There is a guy, Koo, he knows something, but isn't telling us for some reason."

"We force the information out of him?"

"Last resort, he was a servant of hers, I'll prefer a less aggressive approach."

"I'll go practice my firebending. " she smiled "I'm interested to see how your diplomatic skills have developed." and left him alone. This was the problem, wasn't it – his diplomatic skills were awful.

The colony was on a small island, originally intended for Earth Kingdom prisoners it was constructed by Sozin in the early days of the war. After Sozin death the colony sunk into obscurity so Earth Kingdom citizens moved there to escape the war and with the colonists already deported there they made a decent place to live. This was until Ozai found it in the archive and decided it was the perfect place to send Ursa, obviously it wasn't as unknown as he hoped.

Their arrival did not go well, the citizens associated the Fire Nation ship with the guards and shipments his father sent from time to time to his mother, so as not to infuse the situation Zuko decided that he and his sister would go alone and gave a small prayer Azula didn't do anything stupid. And then he gave another one hoping her skills weren't too dulled from prison, if the need arose.

Koo's house was the typical farmers dwelling. Located a little outside of the colony, as to allow the space he needed for farming, it spoke much of the man or more precisely – said there wasn't anything to say about him. Which made perfect sense; he probably didn't want to draw attention to himself; however the locals were as willing to pretend he didn't hide. Some of them shared with Zuko's agents that he opened the farm recently, so everything put in place to give the illusion of a "long-time" farmer was just a mask.

Zuko reached the door. He was nervous, what kind of an answer will he get? What if that man gave him bad news? What if he didn't know anything useful, what if he was actually ignorant about his mother? What if he didn't have an answer? And then came the knock.

It wasn't him, but Azula. His sister didn't seem to have the doubts he did, or the patience to wait for him. In fact while he looked confused and doubtful, he must have, she was serene and focused. Having an objective was certainly doing her good.

She knocked again.

"Just a moment, just a moment." a voice came.

The door opened, in front of them stood a man in his no older than thirty, bronze skinned with a thick black beard and hair. He wasn't muscular either, in fact he didn't look like someone who has worked the land his whole life. Neither were his manners as crude as a farmers, this man obviously used to be a servant.

"Good day sir, my name is Zuko" Zuko began "can I ask you about a woman who used to live here?"

Zuko pulled a picture from his pocket.

"We know that she used to live here for a while, however she seemed to have vanished."

"Hmmm..." Koo said taking the picture "I don't remember seeing her. But if she vanished when you started looking for her, maybe she didn't want to be found?"

"I can assure you, this is not the case."

"Well, sorry haven't seen her..." He started closing the door

"Sir please." Zuko said blocking the door with his foot "any information you can provide."

"I don't know anything, if I do find something I'll tell you."

"Mr. Koo, you surely must know something, please think about it."

"Look boy, I don't know what's..."

Then he felt pain. A lot of pain. It brought him to his knees.

"Koo, right..." now the girl was talking, while he was speaking with the Zuko fellow he forgot about her. "RIGHT!"

"Who the hell do you think..." before he could finish this there was a fireball an inch away from his face.

"RIGHT!"

"R...right." The farmer was starting to lose his ground, so to speak.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT I AM!" she was screaming in his face "DO YOU!"

"A fire b-bender." he was laying on the floor, shaking.

"RIGHT, AND WHAT ARE YOU!" the fireball was becoming bigger.

"A farmer."

"WHAT KIND OF A FARMER?"

"An ordinary one..."

"WHAT KIND OF A FARMER!"

"Earth Kingdom farmer." the man started to cry

"SO YOU'RE AN EARTH KINGDOM FARMER, RIGHT PINKY!"

He nodded.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT FIREBENDERS DO TO EARTH KINGDOM PEASANTS!"

The man was petrified; he was just sitting there, staring at her.

"Well then..." she seemed to calm down "let me explain to you, what Firebenders to Earth Kingdom filth." She sat next to him. "You see, a hundred years ago we Firebenders got bored, so we came and started killing you people. Then we got bored with it and went home. Right, pinky?" The man gave a nod.

"So you see, Firebenders go around and kill Earth Kingdom filth." she gave a pause "So tell me pinky, will a Firebender kill some Earth Kingdom filth today?"

The man was sitting there, staring at her, unable to move a muscle or say a word. Then she jumped at him "WELL!" she screamed.

"There is a guy..." he muttered "he vi-vi-visits the local restaurant every few days, bizarre haircut, can't miss him, just wait and he'll show up. He gave Ursa to some guys, escort, I don't know anything other than that." Koo's eyes were filled with fear "Please, don't kill me."

Azula laughed "Don't worry Koo, you're a good boy, right?" he nodded "We don't kill good boys." she gave him another laugh "But, if we find out you are a bad boy..."

"I'm not, please...I'm not."

"Leave him." Zuko finally said something, for the whole ordeal he was standing next to the door, observing the situation "He gave us all we needed."

With those words he left, the woman left with him and Koo...his senses returned to him, in time.

"What was that Zuko!" her brother was walking at a fast pace, quietly. "He knew something, it was obvious, and why didn't you push him?"

"I didn't want to force an aggressive situation." Zuko was staring at his feet.

"Is this how you work in court?"

"Yes." as he said that she noticed sorrow in his voice.

"You..." Azula paused "Sorry, it must be hard to be a Firelord."

"I was gone for years. I don't know anything other than commanding a ship."

"Commanding a ship is like commanding a nation..." Azula began.

"Uncle says the same "he pause "it's not."

"You're not well accommodated to your new position, are you?" Her brother didn't answer "I'm not the one to judge, I went insane."

They walked in silence for a while.

"Zuzu, look if you are able to take the crown, by force..." he gave her a deathly stare, not that it matter "then you're good enough to rule."

"My duty requires me to restore my nation's honor." The Firelord was speaking slowly "but I don't know how to do that."

"Well dumb-dumb, we'll think of something."


	4. Chapter 4

"Let's go over it again." Azula always had trouble understanding her brother, but now he was reaching new highlights.

They were at the restaurant since morning. It was a cozy place made of wood, with several tables. There was a waitress as well, going around the tables taking orders and serving food. They were waiting for their food at this point, Zuko ordered a dish he used to eat in Ba Sing Se, a dish he missed, and Azula picked something at random.

"I offered the Earth Kingdom representative financial compensations, as well as the manpower needed to undo the damage my nation has done." Zuko was patient, his sister had many flaws, but she was better at this than him.

"I get that, why?"

"I want to help undo the damage done and help restore balance to the world."

His sister had that "you are an idiot" look on her face.

"So..." she started "I don't understand why you're doing it, or why you need to, but I'll try to go with it." she took a breath "Now, father was a Firelord, right?"

"Yes."

"And I was about to be a Firelord."

As they were talking the waitress came and put the dishes on the table. The Firelord gave a thankful nod; the princess didn't acknowledge her existence.

"Yes."

"Did we care about the balance of the world?"

"No." Zuko frowned "you didn't."

"Right..." Azula was talking to him as if he was a child "now, did the Earth King cared about the balance of the world?"

"No, but he was a good man and I'm sure..."

"Did he?"

"No."

"You see Zuzu, I don't know what you believe and I'm not exactly sure I want to know, but the people you are dealing with, people like me, father and the nobles – they don't care; they want power and wealth."

"You're right..." if only she knew how much it pained him to say that "But how do I win? I will not back down; my duty is to the world as well as my nation."

"Speak to them in a language they'll understand." was it just him, or was his sister completely at home with this topic "They know the war ended only because we decided to pull out. The Fire Nation has the biggest, most well trained army in the world. If you were to attack the remaining two nations, you have a decent chance of winning."

"I will not threaten or force our allies. We will cooperate."

"I am not saying you shouldn't, although I probably wouldn't..." now it was Zuko's turn to give her a funny stare "the deal is to show them that you are a strong leader."

"By burning them down?"

"No just..." she gave up "I didn't want to do it like that. Look, go to the ship and write a letter to your advisors. Tell them that if the representative doesn't accept your terms, you'll just pull the money out of their bank and let them fend for themselves."

"And if it backfires?"

"It won't; you are giving them your finger and their trying to bite your hand." Her brother was not taking well to the conversation "They are probably just being greedy, don't let them exploit you." Now he looked depressed "I'm sorry, I know you were out of court for a long time. They are trying to get what they want. You said it yourself, your duty is to the world AND your nation, they have their duties as well. Trust me, it's the best thing you could."

After finishing her sentence Azula finally acknowledged the existence of her food. It was a decent looking meal, with a good aroma. This wasn't a major establishment in a big city, nor did it came from a royal kitchen, but then again in the last two months her food wasn't top quality either. She decided that it couldn't be worse than prison, asylum, food, so might as well give it a try.

"People eat this." the food was repulsive "They put it in their mouth, chew and then swallow?"

"It's not that bad." Zuko replayed.

"Zuzu, this is disgusting."

"Then don't eat it."

"This meal is lucky I'm hungry."

"You know, people like this; it's considered a staple in the local cosine."

"You're telling me, that you are going to tell the cooks, to make this?"

"Well, no..."

Suddenly Azula stopped paying attention, Zuko noticed as well. A bronze skinned man, with a gouty and a somewhat bizarre haircut entered. He was dressed somewhat simply, except his collar, which had a few golden stripes on it. He seemed oblivious to their presence, more interested in having a meal than anything else. His actions spoke of ignorance as well: careless, unaware, completely closed in his own mind. Exactly how they wanted him...

"That's our man." Zuko remarked "Let's have a chat with him."

"Not before I finish my meal."

There was no rush; the man just ordered something, so he'll probably be there for long enough. The Fire Lord knew it, no need to argue with his sister right now. Well, if they were going to wait, they could at least be productive about it.

"So, how do we approach him?" Zuko was thinking about the method, in his mind this had to go perfectly, the needed the information he had, no place for screw ups "We shouldn't alarm him from the get go. We must also be certain that he doesn't lie; if I knew we would be doing this I would have brought Toph along, but I didn't, so this is that. You can tell, right?"

Azula just finished with her meal "Zuko, relax, just act natural." she got up and headed towards the target's direction.

"Yeah, act natural." suddenly it clicked with him "Wait, I don't want you to act - "

Before he could say it Azula grabbed the man by the collar and threw him at the table. The victim, due to the shock, couldn't say anything before he was flat on his back. The princess screamed at him, fire coming out of her mouth, "Where is Ursa!"

The poor man wet himself before she could finish the sentence.

It was surprising how cooperative the man was, how easily he gave the information and how willing he was to betray whoever employed him. Didn't say much though, maybe he didn't know, maybe he wasn't willing to. Zuko had to restrain Azula before she actually mutilated the man, but they did get what they needed – a location.

Now the only matter that remained unresolved was the issue of whatever or not to trust her sister's advice. It wasn't much of a dilemma really – Azula always lies, never trust her; he wasn't willing to brake that rule yet, if ever. But what she said did make sense, he would write to Iroh, ask for his advice, if his uncle was willing to go with Azula's recommendation, then yes, he would do it, otherwise – no. Of course, it would be best if his sister never found out that he asked for a second opinion.


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm telling you, if she goes crazy, I'm out..." the two guards were out of duty, still in uniformed, leaned on the railing staring at the sea. Both of them were out of duty, they're shift ended not half an hour ago. Normally they'd play poker with their crewmates or discuss some juicy rumor, however both of them were broke and there wasn't a new or a good rumor in quite a while, which made them grumpy.

"Don't talk like that man." his friend wasn't in the best mood either, but this wasn't a topic he was willing to go over in public.

"No, the moment that girl starts throwing fireballs I'm jumping off this ship, I ain't turning into a burn victim."

"If the Firelord hear..."

"Yeah, I know..." he was smoking a pipe, in fact both of them were passing the same pipe between each other "But c'mon man, if she goes supernova on the ship, what would you do, jump into big blue or get yourself turn to ash." he took a smoke from the pipe and passed it "You've seen her training, Miss. Crazy could probably take half the ship in a single shot."

"Well, she ain't that crazy."  
>"And thank the ancestors for that, if she was we'll be dead."<p>

"You think she can bend lightning?"

"Heard she could, but I never seen it, maybe that crazy is messing her up." so he heard, it was one of the topics guards covered in the dining room, in fact his friend participated in those discussions, but boredom did bring back old topics "Why would she bend lightning anyway. The best she could do with it is take someone out; one of those infernos she's spewing on regular basis could take half of us to the bottom of the ocean."

"Yeah..." he took a smoke and past the pipe "I'd jump..." he admitted.

"So would I..." they turned and saw the princess next to them.

"Aw..." they were in trouble, so much trouble over this.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about It." she smiled at them "Not that you'll have enough time to think if the moment comes. Mind if I try it?"

"What?"

"The pipe?"

"Oh, sure." she took the pipe, inhaled and immediately started coughing.

"Bad idea..." she was coughing hard "...really bad idea..." after a while she could finally breath normally "So...where are you guys from?"

The soldiers looked at each other, wondering what exactly to tell her.

"Oh come on." she remarked "I'm not going to kill you..." then her tone became sarcastic "or am I?"

Both of them laughed "'Mam, "said one of them "you aren't taking the whole prisoner situation seriously, are you?"

"Nothing I can do about it." she had a serene face on her; it was like she wasn't really interested in all the hardships of she's been through at the moment "In life, there are things you can do and things you can't do. I can't change the fact that I am a prisoner who'll be hunted throughout the globe if I escape, so why ponder on it?"

"You know, Uncle said something similar once."

"In that case..." Azula said playfully "I retract the statement and renounce it." after which she took a deep bow "To what do I owe the company of the All-Might Firelord Zuko."

"Glad to see you're in a good mood." although he wasn't pleased with her teasing, the last thing he wanted was his soldiers to see someone not showing him proper respect "A message from Ty Lee came, she's glad to hear you're getting better."

His sister mood's changed, one moment she seemed carefree and the other a shadow drew over her "I don't care, burn it." was her response. After which she turned her back on him. Zuko expected as much, still she had to read it.

"Come one, she's your friend."

"No she isn't."

"Azula..."

"She at the top of my list of people who I hate."

"Not me?"

"You, Mai, Ty Lee, father and mother."

"Isn't that everyone you knew? Anyway, if you don't read it I won't stop bugging you."

She gave a sound of frustration and snatched the paper from his hands. It was definitely Ty Lee, even if you know very little about her you would guess. The decorative doodles, the girly writing, even the paper had a pink-tint. Who and why would you make a pink-tinted paper anyway? The handwriting was uneven and was she mistaken or was there a ribbon in one of the corners. Azula wondered which took her more time - to doodle and spice the letter, or to write it.

"Dear Azula, " she started reading it imitating Ty Lee's voice "I am so glad that you are alright!" she frowned "If you cared for me you shouldn't have betrayed me, you unreliable..." she stop herself before going any further and went back to reading "I am doing so well, the girls are all nice and the clothing is great. I love the food too, and you should see how trained their warriors are. It's so good right here!" and she stopped reading.

"Zuko, I need to ask you..." she looked pissed "and I want you to answer me honestly." her brother nodded "is she mocking me? Because right now all I'm reading is how much better her life is without me."

"Azula, keep reading" he was willing to admit, this was not really a great way to start a letter, especially in this circumstance "You know how Ty Lee is; she can be a little...like you."

"Like me?"

"Inconsiderable"

His sister stood there, for some time, obviously trying to sink all of this in. "I want back in my cell!" Zuko tried to say something, but was stopped before he could do so "No, I want back in my cell. I did not come here to listen, once again, what kind of a terrible person I am. I am sick and tired of everyone berating me, talking behind my back and using me." she was talking fast, without a pause and was gathering a crowd as well "I prefer to die to once again be "that monster", maybe I'll get a good life in my next reincarnation." the firebenders around them looked to be more interested in the show, than in subduing her, not that she warranted it in any way at that point "And you know what, maybe this is for the better. Maybe I'll die, be born an Earth Kingdom Peasant and live my life away from that despicable court." he was standing there, wandering what exactly to say, not that she was giving him much of an option. "You know, damn the Imperial court, the only people I met there were hypocrites and power-hungry egoists. Everyone was like that – my backstabbing friends, my father, my mother...you." this was not the way Zuko wanted the conversation to go "What do you want Zuko? What's your game, what's your plan? You are royalty, aren't you; people like you always have a motive? Zuzu is too incompetent to succeed, too naive to lie and BAM, next thing you know Zuzu usurps the throne." and things were going so well with her before "What do you want from me, what more can you take from me!"

The thing that fallowed was chaos and panic. At one point Azula was screaming at her brother, the next there was a hole in the ship and a giant explosion. Everyone was thrown aback, and then there was another explosion. The ship was starting to tear apart, as if an invisible force was taking it piece by piece. The initial reaction for the guards was to target the princess, however she was knocked unconscious, as well as the Firelord. Then another explosion came and took most of them out the few left on their feet were running in panic trying to save their lives.

Azula regain consciousness, she must have been out for a few seconds, a minute at most. Around here there were bodies and fire. She tried to get up, but her legs didn't obey. After a few unsuccessful attempts she started dragging herself towards her brother "Don't tell me he's dead..." she thought to herself "but if he's dead, you'll be a Firelord." was that an opportunity? She reached him and searched for pulse – he was alive. Should she try to save him? The ship was sinking, if he died there was no one to challenge her throne, Mai didn't have any claims to it. If she just let him sink with the ship and drown, she would gain everything she lost.

Maybe she should, maybe it was for the best. Every time she helped Zuko, she suffered for it. When she decided to bring him in the homeland as a hero, instead in chains, when she gave him the glory of killing the Avatar, instead of a cell, when she gave him another chance at becoming the next in line for the throne, how did he repay her? He ratted her to Ozai and betrayed the Fire Nation; the conversation with her father afterwards was not fun. And then he threw her in an asylum.

But the worst memories of her's were of losing people close to her. She never got over her mother's departure, or her friends betrayal, or her father's rejection, or Zuko's betrayal. Her gut was telling her to help him, he was her brother, her "little Zuzu", her "dumb-dumb"; in that moment the painful realization of how much she love him came to her. Why else would she give him the glory of slaying the Avatar? Why else would she give him another chance with her father?

She couldn't believe herself, help Zuzu, again? She would regret this, she would definitely regret this, and she always regretted it and he always messed things up. And as soon as she tried to drag him, she realized – she was physically incapable of doing it. She was bleeding; the blood loss was too much, she was barely conscious. There was no way for her to take someone with her; in fact, there was no way for her to move. She was sitting in a pool of her own blood. Why was it that whenever she needed someone, there was no one there? Why was it that she always had to fight alone? Couldn't at least someone come to her rescue? A ship that fallowed them? A strange mythical benders living in a nearby island? Dragons? The Avatar? Anyone?


	6. Chapter 6

She was alive; she could feel…something, which meant that she was still alive. This was good, being alive was good. So what happened? She was screaming at Zuzu for…something stupid and then everything went to hell. She was hurt, and so was Zuko and then she tried to help her brother, but she couldn't. Wait, why would she help him?

Then a sharp pain came, it was her head, which resulted in her suddenly opening her eyes, which in turn resulted in more pain from the light. Not that there was a lot of light around, in fact in normal circumstances it would be considered dark…where was she again? It looked like a cell, and Zuzu was in the cell in front of her, which meant that they were captured by...someone. Great, could she pick herself? She tried to stand up, but that didn't happened, so she tried to roll.

"Awake?" said her brother

"Yes…" although she was still recalling events "Zuzu, why did I scream at you back then?"

"Because I told you you can offend someone sometimes when you run your mouth?"

Azula pondered on that for a moment "But I do that."

"I know"

Alright, she may have vented some steam at Zuko, normally she didn't do what she was about to do, but since a few months ago her life was out of the normal phase "I'm sorry." she said.

"Really?"

"Yes…"

Zuko seemed shocked at this.

"Oh, come on dum-dum, I'm not so bad."

"I don't know, you build yourself a reputation of being perfect by framing me for your mistakes."

"I what…" normally, she would be angry, but right now her head and body hurt too much for that.

"Let's face it, every time you messed up you framed me for your mistakes." She couldn't see his face, it was too dark, but she could guess he wasn't too happy of having her scream at him and then getting blast by unknown forces "Like when you failed to kill the Avatar, among many other things" he continued "you knew something was up so you kept me around, just in case."

"Zuzu you…" she rolled around a few times in a feeble attempt to look intimidating "you are trying to pick a fight, aren't you?"

"If I knew you two were going to kill each other I'd have put you in the same cell." There was someone else in there, how did she missed him, did he just came in, or was he waiting? "A formal introduction is necessary, I believe" at least he was polite "I am Zhi-Zu, the ex-royal engineer "she remembered him, he used to serve her father before disappearing, no one knew why he had gone missing.

"Zhi-Zu, I know you, you served my father!" Zuko yelled, so Zuzu remembered him as well "What do you want? Are you conspiring with Ozai?"

"I must admit" the man said "The idea to have Ozai at the throne again is appealing, however I doubt we'll get more from him – he has outlived his usefulness."

"What do you want from us?" Zuko insisted on questioning.  
>"From you – nothing. In fact we were thinking of killing you, when we found you on that sinking boat. However, you may prove useful – how, we don't know yet – but we could certainly think of something – you are the Firelord and a person" he looked at Azula "who could occupy the throne, if we wished."<p>

"And what do you plan, what is your scheme." the Firelord was determined to get as much information as possible.

"I do not think we are obliged to answer that." the man said.

"Do you know anything about Ursa?" this time Azula ask, she felt like keeping them focused on their task was for the best.

"Yes, she's locked two levels below." she didn't expect such honesty "In fact we were thinking of reuniting you, but we didn't have a vacant cell near her."

"How gracious of you" Zuko remarked "Release us and I will be merciful."

The man just laughed and walked away, leaving them alone. No one said anything; Zuko was deep in thought, he was so close to his mother, yet so far. His sister didn't dwell upon that; they knew where her brother's mother was located, now they just needed to find a way to get her.

"Zuzu...you know, I was thinking." alright, if they were to escape this, she needed to trust him and there was only one way she could do that "You sent me into an asylum, betrayed me several times and in general has been someone of a weight to me. " he was about to protest "However, I have been cruel and unfair to you, right?" a yes came from his cell "So, let's leave it all behind, not forgive each other, that ain't gonna happen in this lifetime, but forget it. Can you do it?"

"I was getting the impression that we were getting close." he mumbled.

"I need to trust you like I trusted Mai and Ty Lee." she went quite for a moment "And I want to know you won't do what Ty Lee and Mai did to me. So, since we can forgive each other right now, let's forget, alright?"

"Alright." he said.

For Zuko, this was somewhat bizarre. He was sure that his sister had left all that behind, otherwise they wouldn't have cooperated so well when searching for their mother. If she wasn't more open to their relationship, she wouldn't have cried and confessed that night. Or maybe she was, and now she was trying to sort it all out in her head. Whatever it was, he was not going to betray her, in fact, Zuko thought to himself, during the search he himself has started to trust her. Could he really trust Azula?

"Alright, I have a plan." she continued "The locks...aren't meltable, in fact these bars aren't going to melt." he knew that, this metal was used for creating prisons for firebenders "however, there is still a way to get out. An explosion strong enough, could blast away the bars." she took a breath "Normal firebenders can't do it, but we, you and I, probably can. The problem is that everyone will hear it, there's no finesse in it, we blast it and after that we'll have to deal with guards" not the best plan, he reasoned, but better than nothing.

"On three." she said "One...two..."

**00000000**

Reviews – both positive and negative, are deeply appreciated.


	7. Chapter 7

This was the first time he was doing something like this, and Zuko was enjoying it immensely. He was propelling himself using firebending with Azula on his back. Admittedly, his sister overestimated herself, and was now completely dependent on him. In fact she wasn't even able to blast the bars away, so it was up to him to bust her out. She was dependent on him and he would savor the moment 'till the end of times.

"Wipe that smug expression off your face." Azula on the other hand wasn't as happy with the situation as he was. Not that he could blame her, but it was just such a unique expirience "So you got lucky and didn't get too hurt during that hellstorm." she was ranting, of course she would, he would too, if he was in her situation "But why would you, I mean, you were born lucky."

"No, you were born lucky, I was lucky to be born, remember?" he replayed with that smug smile still on his face.

"Oh excuse me, I must have missed the part where your friends betrayed you and you lost your mind." she was quite for a moment, going over something in her mind "I'll give you a pass about mother, father hated your guts, so we're even on this one."

"Mother didn't hate you." Ursa wasn't like that, everyone knew it.

"She didn't show me much love. "his sister confessed " I admit, our parents weren't that good, blatant favorism running in the family."

"I'd argue about mother, but if you felt neglected by her, then something must have gone wrong."

"Father is probably somewhat proud with you, you know." Zuko looked at her with disbelief "I'm serous, look at you, you don't have eighteen years and you already overthrew his rule and took his throne. Sure you had some help, but hey, no one does this without some form of help."

"If you put it like that, probably he does." wait, he almost missed that "Wasn't it your throne?"

"Please, I was supposed to be a puppet ruler, do you think he would have given me more freedom than a local governor? I'd be a Firelord as long as it served him, and by "Firelord" I mean just a governor of a really large state."

Then they reached two stairways, one went up, the other went down. Both of them were quite large, whatever those vicinities were, they're maker wanted them to house a lot of people. Which was a shame since the place was deserted. There weren't any prisoners, despite their captors claim, there weren't any guards either. Zuko was glad about the guards, with Azula in this state it would be hard to defend himself, her and move forward. No, it would be impossible.

"Two levels down until we reach mother, right?"

"Yes, but we aren't doing that." Her brother had the "why not" expression "Because we don't know in what condition she is, you can't carry us both. Second we don't know the layout of this place, so just going through random corridors isn't going to cut it. Thirdly – I am not going to be carried by you or anyone else."

"So we…?"

"We go to top level; I reason that since I have bandages on me there is an infirmary somewhere in here. We find it, I take some herbs to dull the pain and restore my strength, we find a map of this place and then we find that engineer and ask questions. Your mother will only be a hindrance to us right now.

She was right, but "It's our mother." he corrected her.

"Didn't we agree – she was your mother, and Ozai was my father."

Zuko shook his head "You and mom have much to talk about."

"She can talk to herself." no way was she talking with THAT woman "Now Zuzu, yup-yup." If she was going to be carried by him, at least she could sting his pride a little.

"Did you just…"

"Yup-yup!"

"How did you…"

"Yup-yup!" then she started to imitate riding a horse on his back. She could get some fun of this situation after all.

"I can't believe this." He said as he was getting into position "I don't have to help you, you know, I can just leave you in that cell of yours."

"No you can't, you're Zuzu." she said they went up the stairs "and I am your lovely and adorable sister."

"Oh, you're a lovely and adorable sister, are you now?"

"Of course I am, I've always been…" then she kissed him on the cheek "my sweet brother!"

"You pure spirit, what have you done to my sister!" Zuko screamed "If you do not return her evil soul, I shall use unholy incantations!" to which she pinched him.

The both laughed, it was a long time since they could just joke around and laugh at themselves, perhaps too long.

"Alright..." Zuko said through a smile "that was creepy." he could feel Azula giving a nod.

"You remember when you said that there wasn't a place in the world where you could hide?" he felt another nod from his sister "Well...technicly people know that the Fire Nation took over Ba Sing Se, they don't care who commanded it. And the new history book are still not printed so we could edit them a little?"

"Edit them?" Azula wasn't sure where this was going.

"Indeed." Zuko said, somewhat proud of himself "We could just paint you as a patriot who did what she did out of love for her country and lord." he gave a smirk "And who is still in love with her motherland, ready and willing to serve her nation." there was a note of pride in his voice "The nobles and those who know you personally won't believe it, but the general population would buy it."

"Zuzu, " she was impressed " I never knew you could be this devious."

"Well, we are related by blood."

"But aren't you worry that I could use this against you?"

The atmosphere became heavy again. She was right, if he did that for her, it meant that he risked giving her ammunition to overthrow him, and he couldn't have that. Could he trust her? Of course not, neither should he. But, as Aang gave him a second chance, he wanted to give his sister another one as well, he owe it to her and himself. If he could take her out of the asylum, he could do that for her too.

"I am, but I'll trust you on this one." he bended the truth, he didn't trust her, he just hoped she didn't do it.

"Trust me? Still naïve I see?" he gave her a frown "I guess I'm lucky you are this gullable."

"See, " he smiled again "you were born lucky."

"No, I wasn't." she protested.

"Oh yeah, think about it." and this was a good question "How much bad karma do you have? You're getting yourself off easy."

Azula was about to protest, but the situation couldn't have been better if she wished for it, no need to ruin it. Zuzu was still soft, but maybe she didn't want to betray him. Having a Firelord who was like that was a bad thing, and she reasoned that he wouldn't hold the throne for long. But, right now she didn't feel like stabbing him in the back.

"I'll hold you to your word you know." she finally said.

"Alright, first, let's get out of here, then I'll see how I can help my little sister."

"Zuzu..."

"Yes..."

"Don't call me little sister." upon hearing that a smile graced the Firelord's face.

**00000000000000**

Her life had been out of her hands for well over a month. At first a messenger came telling her that her son had become a Firelord and that her daughter was in a mental institution. For her son, she was extremely proud. Despite all the difficulties he had to face, he managed to survive. In court, everyone was against him, to do what he did he must have taken a great strenght of will. She was so proud of Zuko, so very proud.

Azula...her daughter was always loved, always showered with attention, always put in the spotlight, what happened? Whatever it was she needed to see her. When she left Zuko, she left him with the knowledge that he was safe, she never even considered that her daughter would be the one who'll need support, yet the winds have blown the other way. Whatever it was, as a mother, she had to see her daughter.

She always considered the war to be tragic, but never thought it would end, or at least never thought what she will do after it ended. Not that it mattered, even if the war ceased, she would still be an exile, nothing would change what she did. She believed that until a messenger came and told her that her son was searching for her. She was overjoyed by the news, she would finally see her children, even seeing Ozai wouldn't be that bad. But as the messenger carried her onboard she realized that she had become a bait to her son's political enemies.

Now she waited in cell, hoping that Zuko did not spring the trap.

**00000000000000**

Big thanks to Rioshix for his continues feedback, also thank you to Bruna for the encouraging words.

So what do you think about this chapter? Good, bad? Should I ramp up the descriptions a little or is this doing the job?


	8. Chapter 8

Once outside Azula immediately recognized their surroundings – Zuko not so much. During the war her brother has been chasing the Avatar or helping him...or he was in Ba Sing Se or the Royal Palace, point being he didn't spent much time in Fire Nation encampments. She had and this was obviously an outpost used during the early stages of the war, probably when the Air Nomads were still around. Which meant that they didn't need a map, she knew the layout by heart. Now the only problem was the guards – or the lack thereof.

The place was deserted. There wasn't a single living soul in sight, it was as if everyone has packed their stuff and left, which was strange since they already met one of their captors, and she doubted he was alone. Their ship was rigged and they were "extracted" from it at the right time, meaning that this was coordinated and you don't do something like that without a reason. This meant that either their captors have conducted a scheme she couldn't understand or that something has gone wrong for whoever controlled this operation.

She hoped it was the later, rather than the former, the last thing she wanted right now, actually anytime, is to have her abilities dulled.

"Zuzu..." she said while still being held by him "We'll split – you search the main building, I'll go to the infirmary."

"Can you walk?" he asked

"Yeah, I think I've regained enough strength for that." she hoped, but no reason to start showing weakness now, more than she had already that is.

"Are you sure?"

"Trust me." and she quickly realized her mistake in wording the response like that, but it got the point across.

"So I go for mother?"

The answer was no, it was obvious why he was in a hurry to get her out, but they couldn't rush it. Not in this situation. Zuko was to go to the main building and sniff out as much as he can until she finds her medicine. They wouldn't act until they have enough information not to get re-captured.

**0000000000000000**

She walked until Zuko was out of sight, after which she started to drag herself forward. Pride sting, in her case it cause pain, but her whole life she played the role of a strong person, she never showed weakness, nor did she ever tolerate one. She wasn't going to start doing that now, which wasn't to say that she wasn't grateful for her brother's help a moment ago, she was, but she didn't plan to become dependent on someone just yet. In fact, upon reflection, this was extremely stupid since it left her vulnerable. It didn't matter; splitting themselves would allow them to cover more ground fast.

And where were the guards? She wasn't walking in plain sight, but she was able to see major routes and someone should be on patrol. But no one was, she didn't spot a single person until she reached her destination. There wasn't a doctor or a medical staff either, but it all the medications were in place. There was equipment lying around as well, so whoever was here left in a hurry. The pieces of the puzzle were finally setting up.

But before she started searching for more answers she needed to do one thing – get her medication. Fortunately, while she wasn't very savvy when it came to medicine, her training did include basic stuff a soldier should know, meaning that she knew what she needed to take. So, find the herb, get it and be on your merry way?

As easily said as done. Her medicine was located and consumed. And with that the pain subsisted, at least her mind was deluded into thinking there was no pain. In a hindsight this wasn't a good idea, her mental status was...questionable, or so people said, and now she was taking something that messed with her head. If she was more of a spiritual person she would pray to the spirits not to get hallucinations – but she wasn't.

Her mind was getting clearer; wait a moment? She never did anything that bad in her nation to warrant an edit in history books. Sure, she banished a lot of people, that must have tarnished her reputation, and she did serve as a soldier in a regime that was certainly getting demonized, but the "I am fourteen" and "I went to an asylum" excuses were good enough. Tc...she would ask Zuko later.

And speaking of Zuko she could see flames rising from the main building already. She was just getting buddy-buddy with him a moment ago and he was already messing things harder for her. Guess you just had to get used to somethings.

**0000000000000**

Zuko was following the footsteps. It was hard trying to be stealthy, mostly because he was the only thing that made noise other than his target. The main building was deserted, as were the courtyards below, as were the walls around the place. He fallowed the man trying to stay out of sight and only follow the sound, which took somewhere around thirty, maybe forty minutes. In the end the target stopped in front of a door, took a deep breath and entered.

"The prisoners have regained consciousness." he recognized that voice, it was the engineer. Wait, were he and his sister able to escape so quickly that they would track Zhi-Zu and be able to intercept him as he delivers the message. On reflection, why not? He was walking, Zuko was boosting through the corridors with firebending, and even with Azula on his back he would be fast enough to compensate adequately.

"Too early." someone replayed "They shouldn't have woken up yet? What about their mother?"

"She was transported on the ship before they woke up."

"Good, and the minigun?"

"The prototype is still in storage..." what was this minigun they were talking about?

"Transport it to the ship." were they evacuating? "It is a pity the Firelord and his sister found this place already. About the Firelord's soldiers we captured - kill them before we leave." so some of his men were alive, good.

"Yes sir and..."

"ONE OF THE PRISONERS HAS ESCAPED!" that didn't came from the room. Zuko turned around and saw a guard. Well, he had to throw a fireball at some point.

**0******0**

Alright, so this chapter turned out to be shorter than I expected, go figure. I'll try and have two more chapters done by the end of the week.

Thanks to FaeryMage, Generator X, Rioshix and Bruna for the reviews – you guys make this so much more enjoyable to write.

Also, thanks to Knives17, Ohemgee, threebadjs and PeaceHeather for their earlier reviews.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: This chapter was a pain to write. Also, next week (and probably the week after) my schedule will get REALLY busy, I'll try and shoot for a Wednesday and Saturday release, but no promises.**

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><p>Isn't it good when life has just return to the good old days? Her head was somewhat clean, she felt powerful again and somehow the emotions that were clouding her judgment were gone. Now...now she felt as she felt before – strong. And the world hasn't changed either, for example – she was flying at the maximum possible speed to go help her brother, good old days right? Admittedly, she wished these were the good 'ol days. She did took Zuko back with her in the Fire Nation, back then she hoped that he would be with her and father when they conquered the world. A pity things didn't worked out so well...<p>

Not that she was against the current situation. She was second born, always destined to be behind her brother. It wasn't until Ozai gave her the throne that she got a lust for the crown, power? Oh she loved power, but if she wanted to rule she would have stayed in Ba Sing Se. Or was she trying to make herself look like a better person? Deluding herself that she wasn't as bad as everyone was painting her? In all honesty, she didn't care, right now she couldn't give a wooden nickel about the throne. Last time she was in court she lost her mind and everyone backstabbed her. If Zuzu wanted the throne then he could have it, along with that serpent den around it; her hands were clean, she was done with it.

For the Firelord things were...weird. His opponents were throwing daggers and using large metal shields to protect themselves from the flames. There were no benders – none at all. Everyone was using range weapons in order to take him out, which wasn't something he was used. Usually there would be a water or earth bender or two, but no, no matter how many guards came, none of them bend.

They were doing well, maybe they could have even taken him out, until the wall came crashing down and blue inferno poured in. To their credit, the quickly organized themselves and went into a defensive formation. And then quickly the scales of power leveled themselves.

"Zuzu, what is that?"

"Enemies." he didn't know what else to say, at least not in the middle of a battlefield.

"Good..." that was the only thing his sister said before she started bombarding their foes.

But no matter how hard they tried neither of them penetrated the defenses. They were able to trap the knife-throwers into a corner, but the situation was turning into a stalemate. This frustrated his sister, she couldn't fire lightning at them, because they wouldn't let her complete the motion – always throwing daggers at her never allowing that last part of the set to finish. Neither did their shields allow for heat to pass, so she couldn't fry them either.

"Zuzu, "actually there was something else they could do "I was thinking..."

"Yes..."

"They have to run out of daggers at some point, right?"

"...if we don't get filled with metal before then."

"Can you explain the situation to me?"

And so he did.

"Then..." she started "why don't we ignore them and just go for the two guys in the next room?"

A sound idea, a reasonable idea. There really wasn't much to say, yes, leaving enemies behind them would turn sour fast, but considering the stalemate everything was better than waiting for even more reinforcements to show up.

To the dismay of the guards, they turned their backs and busted into the room. There wasn't anyone in there, of course they would have moved out by now.

"Did they say anything important?" the princess asked

"They are loading a ship, there is something called a "minigun", our mother is on the ship and some of my men are still alive"

"That's a lot of information." she was getting even more frustrated with the situation, somewhat angry at herself, for not getting through as well "They must have gone towards the ship." they could hear the guards coming in behind them. Zuko was about to say "no kidding", but at the time they had bigger problems. They jumped off the building and used fire bending to proper themselves.

At the entrance they spotted the engineer exiting the building – it was good being able to fly. He must have tried to leave the building, not fast enough it seemed. But he was smart enough to have guards with him.

Zuko charged towards him. Azula didn't she kept her distance, and prepared herself. The guard immediately formed a wall ready to block him. This time things were different, this time she had something up her sleeve. They had metal shields to protect themselves from fire, she had lightning. This wasn't the small area in which they fought a moment ago, now she could charge the lightning, without getting disturbed by daggers. She charged herself, at the same time Zuko was occupying their attention, and released. Suddenly one of the men fell, she hit the mark.

She was relieved to see the lightning, secretly she feared that she wouldn't be able to, but now that she did life seemed even better. In fact she felt a little badass about it, not that she never felt like that before – she was Azula, she was always awesome – but this time there was more pride than usual, the doctors told her she wouldn't be able to, but she did.

She charged for a second one, then a third one. At first the guards tried to close in on her, but her brother was keeping them at bay. After their numbers were thinned by 5 or 6 they surrendered. It was too late though, the engineer had escaped.

"This is pointless." Azula was already frustrated, they would not chase down two men whole day across an abandoned outpost, it was absurd "let's end it already. You!" she pointed towards one of the man.

"Yes?" one

"Who are you, what do you want and what is your plan?"

"We are an anti-bender group..." anti-bender, that was new "who wish to have all benders dead" a little radical, but she wasn't the one to judge for that "and our plan is to make the population hate benders."

Zuko looked at him dead on "Why!", he asked.

"Because benders are evil." the man was speaking with such an easy, as if they were at dinner "It wasn't the Fire Nation that caused the war, it was the firebenders, it was also the earthbenders who betrayed the Earth Kingdom." "Benders are evil, they are people corrupted by their own power, if we did what Sozin did to the Air Nomads, but we do it to all benders, the world will be all the better for it." the man sounded proud of himself "when is the last time an air bender did something bad?"

"This is the most twisted logic I have ever heard." Zuko was shaking his head "Where is your leader?"

The man didn't answer.

"Where is he?"

Still no answer.

"Zuzu...be more decisive."

Zuko punched the man. The body hit the floor and the anti-bender was obviously unconscious.

"You..." he looked at the other one "Speak or else."

"The ship sir..." he pointed towards a beach region of the island.

Azula was looking proudly at her brother, which was something the Firelord hoped to never see.

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><p>"You know, you used to be more of a hot-head." they were going towards the ship, no reason to spent the time in silence, or so she thought.<p>

"I've been around diplomats since I took the throne." she picked up the disgust in his voice "I've gotten used to not trying to step on any toes."

"Zuzu, these are the type of people whose toes you must break."

"We're guilty..." alright so it was this again.

"Dum-dum, you neither started the war, nor supported it." somethings never change "Don't make your own people suffer because of it." not that she cared much for the people suffering, but that was a good way to get into her brother's head.

Zuko smiled, there was something, a tease, he's been keeping at bay until now, might as well get it out.

"Well, as a good Firelord, I must take my subject's opinion into consideration."

"A subj... " Azula was choking at the audacity "Me...a subject...to..." she couldn't pronounce it, she tried but it never came out "No...not in a million years, not in this lifetime, not in the next, nor the one after." she knew he was right, she was his subject in a sense, but she would never admit to it, or act like one "Zuko, I am not your subject, alright, I am the PRINCESS" she tried to nail the princess part "of the Fire Nation, I am not some, some...second rate guard."

"No one said you were second rate." for a moment he forgot what was her opinion of subjects, servants and so forth; bad wording on his part he guessed "or that my subjects were, please don't treat them that way when we return."

She mumbled something about not being a subject. Not that he would ever look at his sister as such, no matter what the technicalities were. It was strange, but since her mental breakdown he started to look at her as his little sister, something he had forgotten. How had time changed things.

And then a lone boat rose at the horizon.

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><p><strong>Thanks to Private Fire, Bruna, FearyMage and Rioshix for the reviews.<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

"Captain quarters?" Usually the hunt was enjoyable, but this time Azula wanted to end it quickly, her body wouldn't take this type of pressure, not in her current state – medicine or not.

"Yes."

There wasn't anyone in the corridors. Why would there be? Everyone who could fight them, fought them on the deck, if there was someone capable of wielding a weapon, he would have been on the front line. Neither of them spoke for a few moment, they knew instinctively what to do. It was ending now, this whole terrible day and this exhausting journey, were at their end.

Zuko showed three fingers.

Then he retracted one, leaving two.

Then another one.

He clinched his hand into a fist.

And a jet of flame blew the door away.

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><p>As the ship popped on the horizon both of them went quite. The flames behind them would have given their position a long time ago, so there wasn't any point of using stealth. They just crashed in on the deck and started to fight whatever was on there. And again, until the lightning started popping they weren't able to do anything, after that their opponent yielded. Whoever trained those troops, or designed their equipment, was good; a pity he didn't took lightning into account.<p>

Azula asked the nearest soldiers where their leader was, and as the traitorous dog he was, he pointed them in that direction.

Zhi-Zu was a brilliant engineer, if he wasn't doing something as stupid as this Zuko may have recruited him, but kidnapping his mother was unforgivable. On the other hand Azula was willing to fry him simply because he was a traitor. It was a pity that it had to end that way.

They descended into the bowels of the ship. They knew their way, both of them have been in a Fire Nation ship, one of them longer than the other, and knew their way around. Take a turn there, take a turn here and then you reached the door.

"Captain quarters?"

"Yes."

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><p>The door was blown away. It lead to a well decorated room, not as elegant as the royal ship's one, but well decorated non-the-less.<p>

Other than that there were two bodies on the ground.

The siblings walked slowly into the room, making sure that they don't trigger any traps. There weren't any.

"Dead?" Zuko asked, while walking towards them.

"Most likely." She looked at the bodies, they were dead.

Zuko frowned "There was a lot of explaining these guys had to do."

"We'll interrogate the soldiers, they're bound to know something." She smirked "They always know more than they let out."

"Alright, but first we are going to get mother."

His sister gave a nod.

"You go get her; I'll return to the dungeons and see if I can find whatever survived of our crew."

Azula turned, but before she could leave Zuko caught her by the hand.

"Azula, it's our mother, come with me, she'll love to see you too."

"Zuzu, we aren't going over this again. I don't want to see her, that woman wasn't much of a mother to me." Zuko understood, he himself had issues with his father. Mom wasn't like that, but like him before, she probably needed time. Time to think, time to evaluate, time to reflect, before meeting her mother. He was willing to give her that time, if only because he was in her position once, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't try to accelerate the process, when it was convenient.

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><p>Azula was backtracking her steps, from the ship back to the prison. It wasn't a short trip, especially when the medicine was beginning to wear off. She thought about taking some more, but then the side effects would kick in.<p>

What was she to do now? Zuzu obviously didn't intended to lock her up again, but what was she to do? Go on a spiritual journey? Absurd, she wasn't Iroh. Take a political position? No, she had enough of that; she had enough of those people and their backstabbing games. Arranged marriage? The thought of ending up with someone like Chan was repulsive. Live on a small secluded island? What would be the point? Back in the military? Why? With Zuko at the helm the only thing the military would be good for is patrolling and parades, and that was as exciting as Mai.

Speaking of which – the palace would be full of people she disliked, or at least didn't like her. Zuzu would have disposed of anyone who was supportive of her father and these men were the one who liked her. The positions were probably filled with people like her uncle – people who wouldn't have anything to do with her. Not to mention that Mai and her mother would be there, uncle would come and visit as well. Then again, before people seemed to only exploit her position and favor never caring for her as a person. Why did she care about that right now? And why was she so introspective about the whole situation? She was the Fire Nation princess, she wouldn't just back into a corner.

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><p>His mother didn't pay any attention to him entering the room. She was staring at a wall, somewhat disconcerted with the world around her. She didn't even glance at the door when it opened. As he saw her there tears came running down his cheeks.<p>

"Mom." He was never happier.

The woman slowly turned, her eyes widened. Her son, after so long, was finally with her. Zuko didn't know when it happened, neither did Ursa, but both of them were locked in a hug, an embrace which both of them longed for. Neither of them said a word, there wasn't a word in any language that could convey their emotion.

Neither of them knew how long they held each other before the silence was broken.

"Zuko, I missed you so much."

"And so did I mom."

They still held each other, none of them willing to let go.

"How have you been sweetheart?" Ursa said, finally after so many years she would find out how her child was.

"Where to start?" Zuko smiled, as if he was a little boy "I searched the world for the Avatar, for two years. Found him, almost captured him, and then I sided with him, became a Firelord and stopped the war. And then I searched for you." this was the briefest explanation he had ever given, but right now he had trouble using words at all.

"What happened to you?" She said with a smile on her face, gently stroking the scar. Normally she would be angry at it, or saddened, but right now she was with her son and that was all that mattered.

"You know, dad." Even this could destroy the joy in their eyes.

"Azula?"

Zuko had troubles putting it in words "She, I don't know much, you'll have to ask her what she did. I know she tried to capture the Avatar, almost succeeded. She finally brought Ba Sing Se under Fire Nation control." He could tell his mother was impressed when she heard about the great city "Then she suffered a mental break down and is currently recovering."

"Oh..." finally Ursa showed a sign of worry "How bad is it?"

"She has almost recovered." Ursa could tell Zuko wasn't worried about his sister, not because he didn't care, but because he believed in Azula "There is a scar left, an emotional one. It would take time to heal, but I do believe she needed it."

"You think your sister needed to be emotionally scared?" She didn't raise her son like that.

"I don't mean it like that. Maybe it's the influence my uncle had on me, but "he gave a pause to formulate his words "I believe we are the sum of our tears - too little and the ground is not fertile, and nothing can grow there; too much, and the best of us is washed away. My sister lived a life of royalty, she needed a little rain."

He gave his mother a smile.

"But she'll heal." He continued "And she'll be all the stronger for it."

Then he gave her a somewhat stern look.

"That being said, she blames you for a lot." His mother was taken aback by that "She believes you think her a monster." Ursa looked sad "Actually, Azula is here right now, but she refused to see you."

"What?" This was not tolerable for her, she waited so many years to see her son and daughter again "I never meant to hurt her or to..."

"I know, "he cut her off "make sure she understands as well."

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><p><strong>Guys, no need to say it, I love you all. All of you who've read it so far. <strong>

**And a special thanks to Bruna, Private Fire, Potkanka (I love negative feedback) and last but not least, FaeryMage.**

**Also, cheers to anyone who can tell where "the sum of our tears" came from without googling it. **


	11. Chapter 11

So the first thing Ursa would do after meeting her son was to break her word? It wasn't ideal, but she couldn't wait anymore. They were at sea for several days and Azula still avoided her. It was funny, she had spent years away from her children, but right now every day without her daughter killed her. Even worse was the realization that even when they finally talk to each other it will take time before they could act like mother-daughter, at least from what her son told her.

Sometimes, she wondered, was she such a bad person to have all of this happen to her?

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><p>This was absurdly childish. She knew that, so why was she doing it? Well, because she didn't know what to do. For the first time Azula wasn't delaying a confrontation, she was furiously avoiding it. If she ever saw her mother entering the room, she would morph out using the nearest door, if her mother was at one end of the ship, she would be on the other. And to top it all off – it was a small ship.<p>

But facing her mother was difficult. In her mind, in her hallucinations, Ursa was a loving mother who cared for her – she was the mother Zuko had. In reality however Ursa was the woman who created an emotional scarred and left Azula believing for years that she was a monster. One of these two people were real, the other wasn't. And for a first time in years, the real one was here.

How was she to face her? What if once again she was called a monster? She didn't want to think about it. Why would she care? Why did her mother's opinion mattered? This is probably how Zuzu felt. Circling around the world for who knows how many years only to try and gain the respect of a parent that would never care. Was she just comparing herself to Zuzu? That was absurd!

Then again the situation was quite similar. How did dum-dum dealt with the situation? He took away father's firebending and threw him in prison. Alright, she couldn't do that to Ursa. Or could she? No, that would end up with her in prison. Maybe she should confront her? No, she didn't want to relive that part of her childhood.

Wait? Did she hear footsteps? That pacing? It was her mother, right? Must run, must hide. What was the room like? A few boxes thrown around, was she in some unused storage room? No time to think, must act.

As she heard the door open she ducked behind...something...didn't care what it was as long as it broke the line of sight and then started to close on the door. Alright, she was nearly there, now all she had to do was sprint and...

"What are you doing?" a familiar voice said.

She turned around, it was Zuko, thank Agni for that.

"Practicing my sneaking abilities." seriously, what kind of lies do you use to get out of THAT situation?

"Maybe you should see mother?" her brother said.

"Maybe I shouldn't."

"Maybe you are wrong and she loves you?" he insisted.

"Maybe you are wrong and she hates me."

"Maybe I spoke with her and she told me she misses you?" Zuko continued

Azula was silent; her training hadn't prepared her for this.

"Alright, let's drop the topic for now." the Firelord said "I was thinking of something, it was bugging me, but I didn't dare ask until now."

"And that is?"

"When I came to visit you, you were reading a Fairy Tale, when did you started caring about Fairy Tales?"

Azula bit her lip.

"After I calmed down, I ran things over in my head." she started "Thought about how I treated people, how I did things. No matter how long I thought about it I couldn't find a single flaw in my methods." "Then I thought – maybe I lacked something. It was preposterous, but I've seen some quite absurd things in my life, like you becoming a Firelord." Zuko frowned "I didn't want to talk about it though. She gave a sad smile "And I didn't like sitting in silence. When you are alone, your own self starts to haunt you and I must admit, being with myself wasn't as pleasant as I thought it would be." her brother gave a nod, he had a few personal experiences with himself as well "So I asked for books, unfortunately other than a few classics and fairy tales they didn't had anything." she still had that smile on her "I just wasn't in the mindset for the more complex writing style of the classics and went for the fairy tales. And that was it."

"Did you find an answer there?"

"It was childish, too childish." Azula shook her head "But then again, I am nearly sixteen years old and playing hide-and-seek with my mother."

"Well, you know best." Zuko remembered how he reacted when Iroh tried to steer him too far in one direction. Maybe he and his sister weren't as different as he thought they were. "You should still see mom. But enough of that have you thought what you'd do when you return to the Fire Nation?"

Now she looked tired.

"I don't know." Azula sighed tiredly "I thought about, I've been thinking more and more recently, you would almost think I doubt myself. If I don't rule, what's the point of life? Why was I born a princess if not for the divine right to rule? Then again I could plot your murder, that would be fun."

Zuko gave a nervous laugh; he hoped the last part was a joke.

"Other than that Zuzu, "she continued "no idea."

"Well, you'll figure it out." he said, after which he leaned and, pushing his luck as far as he could, kissed her on the forehead.

And now it was time to scram.

"Zuzu, "the voice of his ever-loving, irreplaceable sister came as he was exiting the room "if you do that again, I'll electrocute you."

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><p>It was nightfall. Everyone was asleep, her mother included, it was the perfect time to storm the kitchen, after which she had to figure out a place to sleep. She couldn't sleep in her cabin, too risky; her mother may be waiting for her there. Then there were other things to take into account, like how she'd stay invisible for the next few days.<p>

She'd think about it later, first things first – food. All this hiding, sneaking around and quickly evacuating an area was exhausting. Not to mention she was mentally and emotionally exhausted as well.

A few steps down, a few turns left and she were in the kitchen. It was a small place, with a few cupboards and a refrigerator room. As much as she loved to eat some meat right now, she wasn't going to wait for it to warm up. She just wanted to eat something, in fact she was so hungry she didn't even lit the room, darkness was good enough for her.

She took a loaf of bread, some cheese and whatever else she could find and put it on the table. It wasn't the most exquisite food, but she's been living on less during her travels, not to mention the hospital food.

"I could cook you up something." a voice came.

"No, you're dismissed." she quickly replayed, so there were some "cooks" awake at this time.

"Are you sure?" Azula wasn't used to having the peasants question her, she was about to turn and snap at whoever was having the gall of talking to her, when she noticed who it was. Was it so long that she'd forgotten her voice?

"Hello mother."

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><p><strong>Private<strong>** Fire, Black Diamond07, Potkanka, ari sonten - I love you people.**

**Rioshix, I love you no less, as for the answer - yes, the adventure is nearing it's end. Originally I wasn't planning to include anyone else but Zuko, Ursa and Azula, but I must admit the prospect of seeing other character in the fray intregues me. I may do a fallow up where Azula tries to adapt to a post-war world and Zuko struggles with his responsibilities as a Firelord. Meh, I'll think about it later.**

**For now I hope you all enjoyed reading this.**


	12. Chapter 12

Ursa lit the room, partially because she needed light to cook, mostly because she wanted to see her daughter.

"What would you like to eat?" she asked.

Azula was numb at the moment, her mind was as stiff as her body.

"Whatever." She answered.

Ursa took a few eggs and started to prepare an omelet, it wasn't what she wanted to do, but this wasn't a vessel equipped to handle guests such as them.

When she saw that Azula wasn't going to say anything she continued "I heard you were able to capture Ba Sing Se."

At first Azula gave a nod, but after realizing that her mother had her back turned towards her she replayed with a "yes".

"That's quite the achievement." Ursa said "Even Iroh wasn't able to do it."

If her mother was expecting her to make an apology, she would have to wait. It would be a cold day in the Fire Nation before Azula felt bad about that.

"I'm proud of you." her mother said.

At this Azula started laughing, she laughed and laughed. From all the things she expected to hear this was the last on the list, no this wasn't even on the list. The shock from the statement was finally able to pull her out of her static state.

"Proud of me?" Azula was still laughing "Mother, you were never proud of me. You never..."

"I know what you're about to say." Ursa said with a sigh "Azula, I was always proud of you. I was proud of your firebending abilities and proud of your high achievements even as a child."

"Mother please, "Azula was smiling; this was absurd "Father didn't pay any attention to Zuzu because he believed him a failure, I can only assume you thought the same of me."

"Azula, no..."

"No? Then why did you always protested at what I was doing, why did you always punished me?"

Ursa knew better then to answer immediately. The omelet was almost done; she took two plates, two pairs of chopstick and served the table. At the same time she was weighting her response.

"It was never about your achievements, I was always proud of you." she finally said "I did what I did because I believed it was the best for you."

"I am sorry mother." Azula face turned to stone "I am not the daughter you wanted me to be, I would have probably never been."

For a moment the only sound that was coming was from the chopsticks on the plates.

Ursa closed her eyes; she just wanted to be with her children.

"Despite that, I am proud of the woman you became and I will always love you."

"You believed I was a monster." Azula spat out.

"Never."

There was a heavy silence in the air.

"You did a lot of wrong things back then." Ursa said "And you did a lot of wrong things when I was away." It felt like she was burning the bridge between them forever; it was painful just saying it "But I never thought you were a monster."

"I did a lot of wrong things, mother?" Azula replayed in an even voice "What about you, what about grandfather?"

Ursa eyes widened. Azula knew? Of course, Ozai probably used this to set them against her.

"Whatever you father said I..."

"Father never said anything; I was eavesdropping on the conversation between him and the Firelord."

"You were what?" then again, was it that surprising?

"Mother, how much of a hypocrite are you, to judge me after what you did?"

Ursa broke down crying.

"I was only protecting your brother." she said through tears "I regret having to kill Azulon, I wish there was another way, I wish I didn't had to. Azula, please, forgive me."

"It's not about that! It's about the way you treated me, it's about the memories you left, it's about the fact that you were not there!" as she screamed that Azula stood up and left.

"Azula, forgive me!" tears were running down her cheeks. "Please, forgive me..."

"I can't." the answer came coldly "I am sorry mother, but I can't just pretend that didn't happen."

As she said that Azula stood up and started walking towards the door.

"Azula, " Ursa said, still crying "please, don't go, please..."

But she neither stopped, nor slowed down, she just left.

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><p>Firelord Zuko was watching as the Fire Nation main island appeared on the horizon, it would take a full day before they could reach it. It was perfect really, he needed the time before having to handle Mai and his uncle. He was sure that they wouldn't be too happy with Azula around; eventually they would be accustomed to her presence, Mai would probably be happy to be with her friend again, at some point anyway. Speaking of his sister...<p>

"Good morning." Azula's voice entered the room.

"Didn't get much sleep?" he asked, looking at the rings around her eyes.

"No, couldn't sleep."

"Mother was weeping in her cabin the whole night, I assume you talked?"

"Yes, we talked." She bit her lower lip "It didn't went well."

"Do you want it to go well?" Zuko asked.

"Yes. "She was looking at her feet "But it's not the easy."

"What's the problem?"

"Everything, everything's the problem, Zuzu." she said, her head still down "I am the problem, she is the problem, our past is the problem."

She then lifter her head and looked him in the eyes.

"It's going to be the same back home, isn't it?"

"Probably." Zuko said "Don't worry about it; it'll get better with time."

She gave a nod.

"You know," he continued "if Aang and the others could trust me, I'm sure Mai can forgive you, uncle can learn to appreciate you and I'm sure things with mother are better than you think. Don't worry about it."

"I'm not worried, just annoyed."

"Was that why you couldn't sleep last night?"

"Shut up." Azula sighed "I'll deal with it, I've dealt with worse things before."

Zuko smiled, he knew she was right.

"Other than that, have you figured out what you're going to do once you're back in the Fire Nation?"

She shook her head "No idea."

"Do you want to become my adviser?"

"Oh, willing to trust me that much Zuzu?" she said, with a tease in her voice.

"Yes." the answer was straightforward.

She was too tired for a sarcastic remark.

"Look Zuzu, I won't do anything stupid, ok?" she paused for a moment"Also, I don't regret much of what I've done, but I am glad that lightning missed the mark."

Zuko smiled at her.

"And I'm glad you're here."

"I said things I probably shouldn't have back then." obviously Azula was talking about the conversation with her mother.

"Do you know how often I do that? I am surprised Iroh didn't just dropped me somewhere." he gave her a smile "We all do that from time to time." He read what was in her eyes "Yes, even you."

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><p>Azula stood before her mother's cabin door. She recalled last night's conversation, it wasn't pleasant. But she wanted things to change. Was a change possible? Maybe, maybe not, but she could try. It wouldn't happen in a day, or in a week, probably not even in a month. But with time, maybe things could get better.<p>

She knocked.

**~THE END~**

**I though about extending it to the events after their journey, but the story isn't about that; this was about Zuko and Azula's trek to find Ursa and they did. As for the rest...I may write a sequel if I find the time.**

**Thanks to everyone for reading. You people are the best.**


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